I've been trying to figure out what I knitted this year. You know, doing some year end self evaluation. In all this hard thinking, I realized that my list is bigger than the one over there ==>

In the year 2008, I have completed a bunch of projects. I should really update my list.

1. Dad E's Manly Socks made of STR lightweight.2. Mom E's Clapotis made of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Geisha.3. Cabled Rangoli Hat made of the brushed alpaca yarn the Beautiful E gave me last year.4. The Bunny made of more of that alpaca yarn.5. Anntrelac Socks made of Zen String Bambewe.6. The Amazing E's birthday socks made of Rock Creek Yarn's yarn.7. Branching Out scarf made of Artyarn's Kyoto.8. Green Tea Raglan9. Haggis Throwing Socks made of Schafer Anne.10. Green Sand Beach socks made of my yarn.11. Campfire Socks made of Jitterbug.12. Windmill Beret made of Noro Silk Garden and Cascade 220.13. Tree Beret made of Noro Silk Garden and some other wool.14. Secret Swap socks made of my yarn.15. Felted Stained Glass Bag made of Noro Kureyon.16. Imladris Socks, may they rest in peace.17. Priiti Scarf made of Rock Creek Yarn Priiti and a suri alpaca.

Added to this list should be some projects I didn't list:18. Hannah's hat.19. A pair of Monkeys for a swap.20. Baby Cables and Big Ones Too.

So that's 20. Not too shabby. 9 of them are socks. I guess pretty soon I'll have to take a look at my stash, my UFO's, and my stash to foment my plan for 2009.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

I'll claim illness, because I certainly have been knitting. Although the doctor says my pneumonia is gone, I have a terrible cough that's holding on. I'm currently on my third round of antibiotics for it and am also still in need of strong (read: narcotic) cough syrup sometimes to keep it from destroying me entirely. So I have very little energy. Just enough for some knitting and doing housework. Everything else is on the back burner. Yeah, it sucks.

In the last six weeks I've completed two projects. The first was a baby hat for some friends of ours at shul. They have a little 3 month old girl. She's way too cute, so I made her a winter hat out of one skein in double thickness the Cable-icious BFL yarn. I have to say that it makes for nice baby stuff. It's soft, and retains it's elasticity after washing. Best of all, it's machine washable. Unfortunately, in my excitement I forgot to get a picture before giving it. Hopefully the parents will send me one.

The other project has been Baby Cables and Big Ones Too. I actually got it done in about 5 weeks using 12 balls of Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere. Hopefully E will take a picture of it on me soon and I can put it up here.

Friday, December 05, 2008

If you recall, the Amazing E and I planned a trip last weekend to New Orleans to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. Well, we went. It was great. I was very tired through the whole trip, but we had fun anyway. Our hotel was in the Warehouse district, and in a historical building. The French Quarter was only a short 3 block walk away, so we were there all the time.

E says he took me to do all the fun New Orleans stuff. We went to the markets and famous streets. We ate the local food; our anniversary lunch was at Commander's Palace and involved the best soup I ever tasted. He took me to the Garden District and Uptown, as well as a short tour through some of the poorer areas. It's clear that New Orleans is still rebuilding, but much of it looks great.

It was a wonderful way to celebrate our anniversary.

Tragically for me, I have to say goodbye to yet another sock. On our very first night there, I was walking in the Warehouse district in my Birkenstocks and Imladris socks. I know some people find that look dorky or otherwise inappropriate, but that's how I roll. Anyway, it was wet. And my socks got uncomfortably wet and started causing a blister. So I took off my socks to carry them. Sadly, one of them got away from me. I have the other. But one of my new and pretty socks is now living alone on the streets of New Orleans. I guess all I can do is hope it has a happy life down there.

Thursday, December 04, 2008

As you probably know, last week at least 188 people were murdered and hundreds more injured in Mumbai, India. The horrific attacks were carried out by as few as 10 men. I had been at a loss about how to respond or feel about it, but today I received this one minute video in an email.